As soon as the automatic doors opened, the intense volume of screaming fans shot straight through Hanbin his head.
He couldn’t help but to flinch a bit, taken aback by the fact that the amount of waiting fans seemed to increase every
time they got to an airport. It was crazy really.

Hanbin pushed his sunglasses a little further onto the bridge of his nose. It was more a nervous habit than a necessity
because he knew damn well that there was no way it could stay up that high without sliding right back down. He
looked as the doors closed again, as their security started discussing with the manager on how they would proceed.
This was Hanbin his moment to act like the leader he was. Craning his head a little, he let his eyes roam over their group.

Bobby was the first one he spotted due to the fancy cap the boy was wearing. The rapper had his arm slung around
Chanwoo his shoulders, knowing it would make the youngest feel more at ease, and spoke to him with that signature
Bobby smile plastered onto his face. Right behind them were Donghyuk with Yunhyeong, leaning against each other,
shoulder to shoulder, joking to ease the tension they both probably felt from the upcoming event. Airports were always
a little nerve-wrecking for them to say the least.

Only left to find were Junhoe and the person Hanbin had been truly looking for. Hanbin turned around to find Junhoe
standing behind him. The younger had his earphones in but looked up as he felt the leader his gaze on him.
A small smile played on his lips as he showed him a thumb up to show that he was doing fine before he looked
back onto the screen of his phone.  Hanbin looked near the taller one, expecting to find his hyung near him but
no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t spot their shortest member. A slight panic shot through his body.
Where was Jinhwan?

Hanbin kept turning his head trying to find the smaller one, even looking at some of the innocent bystanders that were
huddled up at baggage claim and trying their best to ignore the crowd of screaming people on the other side of the
door. Perhaps Jinhwan had found himself wondering around them, bored with waiting.

It was when he didn’t see him there either that he started to fidget with his sleeves. It was the moment he dropped
his bag onto the ground as he wanted to walk away from their group to have a look inside the bathroom that he felt
small hands circling around his wrist, making him stop fidgeting.

“Stop turning around so much, you’ll anger the muscles in your neck”, a soft voice made its way into his ears. He felt his
inner panic mode ebbing away and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

“I couldn’t find you”, he said while looking to his right, his eyes finding the older ones. “I panicked”.

“I got hurt once, Binnie. It wasn’t even your fault either. Stop blaming yourself and stop panicking if you can’t find me
immediately. I can take care of myself you know”, Jinhwan scolded. However, Hanbin could see the fond twinkle in
Jinhwan his eyes as he looked up at him.

“Once too many”, he just huffed, knowing very well that the older one could take care of himself but that wouldn’t stop
him from doing so any way.

When the manager called out to them to be ready to leave, the members grabbed their belongings and huddled
together, making it easier for the security to guide them.

Hanbin wrapped an arm around Jinhwan his shoulders, making sure he could keep an eye on the older until they
made their way safely into their van outside.

The doors opening, they stepped into the sea of screams and camera’s flashing. Hanbin couldn’t help but to feel
glad that they wore their sunglasses to the airport that day. The initial reason was that they all sported some
impressive bags underneath their eyes, but he thought that the flashes were a better excuse.

As the sea of people seemed to crash down on them, he felt Jinhwan stir a bit against his side. Jinwhan never
truly showed the fans, but he felt a bit intimidated once he got crowded and lost sight of an exit. Claustrophobia,
the older had explained to him one day after a specific intense airport visit where the older had stood frozen once
he had realised he had gotten himself caught in between the wall and dozens of screaming girls, with an
occasional screaming boy in their midst. Hanbin himself had basically dragged the smaller one out of his stupor to
get him into the van. Jinhwan had been fine and laughed it off, but it had scared Hanbin a bit.

Thinking back about that day, he let his arm slide down the boy his back and curl his arm tight around his waist,
pulling him in closer. As an excuse for this action, or at least what he thought would be an excuse, he pulled out one
of his earbuds and handed it to the other.

“Just listen to this”, he ordered as Jinhwan just looked up at him questionably.

Just as the older put the earbud in, a small group of girls made it through the barrier. They ran past the security and
Hanbin felt how their hands clawed at him. He threw his body in front of Jinhwan’s, blocking the girls their way
towards him, as he flashed a smile towards the girls. He even bowed his head a bit. His mother must’ve been proud of
him if she was here. He felt one of Jinhwan his hands press into his lower back, so he moved his free arm behind
him to squeeze the hand a bit, showing him he was okay.

When the security finally managed to push the girls away, a hand held onto Hanbin his shoulder, pushing him back into
motion towards the exit.

“We have to get out of here and into the van”, was said, a voice he knew all too well.

“I know Kimbap. I hadn’t planned on getting clawed at”, he replied as he let Bobby move next to him, the hand still holding
onto his shoulder. “Wait, are the others okay?”.

Bobby nudged him. “Did you really think I’d abandon them like that while you protected our midget? They are already in
the van, man. You guys took ages so I ran back. That reminds me, you have to save my from scolding because
the security got mad at me for running back all of a sudden”.

Jinhwan reached past Hanbin and slapped Bobby. “I’m no midget”, he complained but smiled nonetheless.

At these moments Hanbin felt most at ease, most grateful for what his life had become. Admits the chaos he could always
rely on these two. The ones he grew up with and who were always there for him as he was there for them. He held them
close as they made their way through the exit and right into the van. Bobby entering the van first with Jinhwan nipping at
his heels, as Hanbin pushed him in first. One final look at the fans, one last wave and smile, before stepping into the van
himself and pulling the sliding door closed. He sat himself on Jinhwan his right, immediately letting one of his hands rest on
the thigh closest to him.

“Quite intense, don’t you think?”, Jinhwan voiced out in a small but content voice.

“Quite”, Hanbin agreed with him.

“You guys are quite the troublemakers, let me tell you that. Letting us wait like that”, Bobby argued.
“You had us worried”, Donghyuk added.

“Sorry guys, it was just a little malfunction in our safety net. We got out alive and well, just a few scratches”, he smiled
at the others. “Now, let’s rest before we get to the venue. We’ve got an interview to get ready for but it’s quite the drive so
take this hour or so to catch some sleep”.

As Junhoe wanted to argue, Hanbin shot him his leader stare. “No room for negotiation, we’re both fine and I want you
guys to rest so we can do this interview without any of us falling asleep on the job. Go on”. The others voiced some soft
arguments but realised that the leader had spoken, so they all found themselves a comfortable position and it didn’t take
long for most of them to fall asleep.

Jinhwan had crawled into his side, letting his head rest against Hanbin his chest. Bobby had leaned in more against
Jinhwan and had one of his arms wrapped around him. Jinhwan his breathing quickly evened out, letting Hanbin know he
had fallen asleep. This was the moment when he looked at Bobby, finding the latter staring back at him with a goofy smile.

“You’re really a good leader”, he whispered.

“You’re really a good friend”, Hanbin replied, wrapping an arm behind Jinhwan and letting his hand rest on Bobby his neck
before pulling his head down and letting it rest atop of Jinhwan’s.

“Now rest".